22 December 2010

THE Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) announced on Wednesday that the feasibility study for the P1.2-billion LRT Malvar station in Caloocan City has been concluded.

The LRTA also announced the schedules of its trains for the holidays.

The Malvar station is part of the P9.63-billion Line 1 north extension project of the LRTA. The project involves the construction of a 5.7-kilometer elevated line seamlessly from the Monumento station of Line 1 to North Avenue station of the Metro Rail Transit 3, with three new stations, namely Balintawak, Roosevelt and a common station.

“[The] Malvar [station] costs around P1.2 billion. The feasibility study on this, I believe, is finished,” LRTA Administrator Rafael Rodriguez said.

But the LRTA has yet to schedule the bidding date for the station.

For the common station, Rodriguez said bidding has been set in the first quarter of next year.

“This has been approved by the Neda ICC [National Economic and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee] and confirmed by the Neda board last July 2009. The construction will be completed in the last quarter of 2012. This costs P980 million,” Rodriguez said.

Early this year, the LRTA accepted a P200-million grant from SM Prime Holdings Inc. to finance partially the construction of a common station which will serve the commuters of the existing MRT Line 3, the LRT Line 1 North Extension now being built and the proposed MRT 7 line in front of SM City North Edsa.

SM Prime paid the state-run LRTA for the “naming rights” of the common station that would connect the three mass-rail transits in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, the agency announced it would reduce its operating hours in Lines 1 and 2 to ensure the safety and security of the vital equipment and facilities. Likewise, the adjustment of departure time will give way for the much-needed maintenance window time.

It said this has been a common practice every year and in anticipation of the relatively low ridership on declared special non-working holidays of December 24 and December 31.

For Line 1, trains will be serving commuters up to 8 p.m. on December 24 from Baclaran to Roosevelt, and 8:30 p.m. on the same day from Roosevelt to Baclaran.

On December 31, the Baclaran-Roosevelt route will operate from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., and up to 7:30 p.m. for the Roosevelt to Baclaran on the same day.

For Line 2, the last trip for the Santolan-Recto route will be at 8:30 p.m. on December 24, and at 9 p.m. from Recto to Santolan.

For December 31, the last train from Santolan to Recto will depart at 7:30 p.m. and at 8p.m. for the Recto to Santolan route.